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5/13/11

Birth and restoration

As you know, the last month and a half have been pretty rough, between losing our chickens, and being told to get rid of our cows. But God is an awesome restorer of peace. Monday, we presented our case for keeping our cows to the Town and by Wednesday, the Town had received so much mail from folks supporting our cause that the Town agreed to begin revising its livestock code. Following our success, it started to rain, and continued to rain for two straight days. Somehow, it seemed to symbolize a fresh start, and it brought with it some new arrivals to our farm.

Little Oreo was born May 11th in the pouring rain to first time momma, Daisy the Hereford. We obtained Daisy from a friend just 4 weeks before receiving the notice from the Town banning livestock. At time of purchase, we agreed for Daisy to stay at her home until she had her calf, as our friend's son was desperate to see her calf born. It was his success showing the cow in 4-H that had earned Daisy the breeding that resulted in Oreo.

Our new heifer is a big girl with a voracious appetite. As with many first moms, it is taking Daisy some time to get used to the concept that a wallop to the udder by a hungry headbutting calf is the universal signal to share her milk, but they're both starting to get the hang of things.

In addition to the cows, we have started to restore the chicken population. Today we added six 9-week-old pullets and five 2-week-old broilers to the flock, bringing our flock total to 15. I still struggle with the pain of losing all of our chicks, and had a twinge of sadness today when I realized that our chicks would have started laying this month if they'd survived. But the excitement of new hens, fresh eggs and meat is beginning to overtake the frustration and grief.

The hubby is on coop reinforcement duty this weekend, though we haven't seen the foxes in several weeks. The fact that the dogs have been sleeping through the night (and letting us do the same) makes us hopeful that the foxes have taken up residence elsewhere, but as we learned the hard way, it's better to be prepared than be caught with our pants down and lose everything.

I'll be in the garden getting the rest of the veggies planted this weekend. On the list are cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers and corn. Plus, I'll be replanting the bush beans and beets that failed to make an appearance. Everything else in the garden is doing well. We've already harvested radishes and will be eating bok choy very soon.

Despite the setbacks, things are steadily beginning to get back on track, and we are grateful for the bounty God has in store.

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Psalm 144

1 Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.2 He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.